Investing is inherently a people business.
That belief is fundamental to our investment strategy. While financial models and market size matter, the quality of the person leading the company, their vision, their discipline, their alignment with shareholders, often dictates if the investment will produce significant results.
This is why we prefer to invest in companies whose founders are still involved. Data supports our conviction. According to analysis by Bain & Company, founder-led companies in the S&P 500 have outperformed their non-founder-led counterparts by 2.1 times over the last decade. We believe that founders think differently because they have skin in the game they are growing something they created and making decisions with a time horizon that extends well beyond the next earnings call.
We seek this same, founder-like mentality and long term view in the individuals we hire at ZCI. We look for teammates with a genuine curiosity and fascination for the markets, the companies, and the ideas that drive growth. That passion is not something you can manufacture. We want our people to be driven by a desire to understand what is possible and to be part of building it.
Humanity also speaks to our relationships with our clients. Long-duration, high growth investing requires a strong relationship built on trust, consistency, and transparency. Our clients are an active part of the work that we do; they are sources of knowledge and partners in our shared philosophy. Volatility is an unavoidable part of owning exceptional growth companies and our best long-term clients not only understand that, but view it as an opportunity.
That partnership matters because the work we are doing is long-term by design. Our goal is to provide our clients with a path to wealth creation, through a process and philosophy built on people, not products.
Exceptional people, when given the right environment and time, often produce exceptional outcomes. Recognizing those people early and then staying invested alongside them, whether they are joining our team, entrusting us with their capital, or building the businesses we own, is one of the most important things we aim to do.
Investing in securities involves the risk of loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The securities identified and described do not represent all the securities purchased, sold, or recommended for clients’ accounts. The reader should not assume that an investment in the securities identified was or will be profitable. This material is intended for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. It does not consider the specific investment objectives, tax and financial condition or needs of any specific person. This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. While reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information herein is factually correct, Zevenbergen Capital Investments makes no representations or guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change at any time without notice.
